Pigeons in London have a bad reputation. Some people call them flying rats. And many blame them for causing pollution with their droppings. But now the birds are being used to fight another kind of pollution in this city of 8.5 million.
“The problem for air pollution is that it’s been largely ignored as an issue for a long time,” says Andrea Lee, who works for the London-based environmental organization Client Earth. “People don’t realize how bad it is, and how it actually affects their health.” London’s poor air quality is linked to nearly 10,000 early deaths a year. Lee says, citing(引用)a report released by the city manager last year. If people were better informed about the pollution they’ re breathing, she says, they could pressure the government to do something about it.
Nearby, on a windy hill in London’s Regent’s Park, an experiment is underway that could help—the first week of flights by the Pigeon Air Patrol. It all began when Pierre Duquesnoy, the director for DigitasLBi, a marketing firm, won a London Design Festival contest last year to show how a world problem could be solved using Twitter. Duquesnoy, from France, chose the problem of air pollution.
“Basically, I realized how important the problem was,” he says. “But also I realized that most of the people around me didn’t know anything about it.” Duquesnoy says he wants to better measure pollution, while at the same time making the results accessible to the public through Twitter.
“So”, he wondered, “how could we go across the city quickly collecting as much data as possible?” Drones were his first thought. But it’s illegal to fly them over London. “But pigeons can fly above London, right?” he says. “They live—actually, they are Londoners as well. So, yeah, I thought about using pigeons equipped with mobile apps. And we can use not just street pigeons, but racing pigeons, because they fly pretty quickly and pretty low.”
So it might be time for Londoners to have more respect for their pigeons. The birds may just be helping to improve the quality of the city’s air.
1.What can we infer about London’s air quality from Paragraph 2?
A.Londoners are very satisfied with it.
B.The government is trying to improve it.
C.Londoners should pay more attention to it.
D.The government has done a lot to improve it.
2.Duquesnoy attended the London Design Festival to _________.
A.entertain Londoners. B.solve a world problem.
C.design a product for sale. D.protect animals like pigeons.
3.Why did Duquesnoy give up using drones to fly across London?
A.Because they are too expensive. B.Because they fly too quickly.
C.Because they are forbidden. D.Because they fly too high.
4.Which can be the best title for the text?
A.Clean air in London. B.London’s dirty secret.
C.London’s new pollution fighter. D.Causes of air pollution in London.
I used to be an average student in Bohunt High school until I took Dr. Whitworth’s class. He was such a life-changer to me that I left that class determined never to underachieve again. He not only taught me to perform better and achieve more success than expected, he, more importantly, taught me to think. He convinced me, as much by example as words that it was my moral obligation to do so and to serve others.
Neither of us could know how our relationship would evolve over the years. When I came back to Bohunt to teach English, I worked for Dr. Whitworth, the department chair. My discussion with him was like graduate seminars in adolescent development, classroom management and school leadership.
After several years, I was named department chair, and our relationship shifted again. I thought that it might be awkward chairing the department, since all of my former English teachers were still there, but Dr. Whitworth supported me throughout. As the former chair, he knew when to give me advice about curriculum, texts and personnel, and when to let me chart my own course.
In 1997, I needed his opinion about leaving Bohunt to become principal at another school. If he had asked me to stay at Bohunt, I might have. Instead, he encouraged me to seize the opportunity.
Five years ago, I became the principal of Bohunt. Once again, Dr. Whitworth was there for me, letting me know that I could count on him. I have learned from him that great teachers have an inexhaustible (用不完的) wealth of lessons to teach.
1.The underlined word in Paragraph 1 could be best replaced by ________.
A.underperform B.underestimate
C.undertake D.understand
2.What did the author mean by “our relationship shifted again”?
A.They became teacher and student again.
B.They chaired the department together.
C.They were colleagues and Dr. Whitworth worked for him.
D.They were colleagues and he worked for Dr. Whitworth.
3.The story is mainly carried out ________.
A.in time order B.in space order
C.by giving examples D.by comparison
4.Where does this passage possibly come from?
A.A speech. B.An autobiography.
C.A newspaper. D.A poster.
Our Annual Cultural Events
A Night in Rio
We are proud to bring the energy and enthusiasm of Brazilian Carnival to Charlotte with A Night in
Rio! Get a taste of Carnival through dancing, live music, authentic food, drinks and marketplace. Put on your green and yellow, and join us for the unforgettable experience of Brazilian Carnival!
Date: Saturday, February 24, 2018
TICKETS AVAILABLE ONLY AT THE DOOR
Location: Neighborhood Theatre, Charlotte
Time: 7 PM
Ritmo & Sabor
We are thrilled to bring the annual celebration Ritmo & Sabor Festival! Featuring dance performances and FREE dance lessons and delicious, authentic Latin cuisine, this festival will be a fantastic celebration for the entire family to enjoy! Food and beer will be available for purchase. Come out to enjoy a great summer evening of Ritmo & Sabor!
Date: Saturday July 2, 2018
Location: International & Cultural Center, Charlotte
Time: 5-11 PM
FREE ADMISSION
Las Américas
Join us in the annual celebration LAS AMÉRICAS! We display our history and identity of Latin America through musical performances, story-telling and poetry. Enjoy yourself with local artists, shop your way through a market of arts and crafts and join in some of the finest Latin American cuisine.
Date: August 18, 2018
Location: Midwood International & Culture Center, Charlotte
Time: 2-7 PM
Admission is FREE.
Latin American Festival
Festival Latinoamericano returns for its 28th year, with musical artists and dance performances, a diverse authentic selection of Latin American food, visual artists, and a street festival environment with activities for the whole family.
Location: Symphony Park at South Park Mall, Charlotte
Date: Saturday Sept. 29 (1-8pm)
Admission: $10; Children aged 8 & under are free.
1.What does Ritmo & Sabor mainly provide?
A. Music and visual art. B. Food and beer.
C. Dance and poetry. D. Dance and food.
2.What can you do at Las Américas?
A. Buy some local crafts as souvenirs.
B. Enjoy typical Latin American beer.
C. Dance in green and yellow clothes.
D. Watch local dancers’ performances.
3.Which event requires a ticket for a seven-year-old child?
A. Las Américas. B. Ritmo & Sabor.
C. A Night in Rio. D. Latin American Festival.
假设你是红星中学高三（1）班学生李欢， 请根据以下四幅图的先后顺序，写一篇英文日记，记录你班同学上周六参观中国科学院的全过程。
注意：词数不少于60. 提示词：中国科学院 Chinese Academy of Sciences
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假设你是红星中学高三学生李欢。你的英国交换生好友Jim得知你们学校因COVID-19（新型冠状肺炎）停课，采用网上教学的上课形式。发来邮件询问相关信息。请你给他回复邮件，内容包括：
1.上课时间； 2.学习内容； 3.有什么感想。
注意：1. 词数不少于50；
2. 开头和结尾已经给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Jim，
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Yours,
Li Hua
Where do you think the world's happiest people live? Somewhere hot with sandy beaches?A country with a tradition of the fine food and culture? Not according to a recent study by the University of Leicester.Who are the happiest people on Earth?1.Surprised? Well you'll be more surprised when you hear that the Danes pay some of the highest taxes in the world.So what is the secret of their success?
Let's start with all that tax they pay.The Danish government provides its people with one of the finest education and health systems in the world.It spends more on children and elderly people per capita（人均）than any other country.
2.Thanks to the tax policy,a shop assistant's final salary is not that much less than someone who works in a bank.As a result,Danes don't choose their careers based on money or status as people in other countries do.They choose the job they want to do.There's a philosophy in Denmark known as "Jante-lov",which translates as "you're no better than anybody else."3.But workers in other countries are not used to looking at life in this way.
Money doesn't seem as important in Denmark.It has been called a “post consumerist” society.4.What is more important is the sense of society and it's no surprise that Danes are very used to socializing.92% of Danes belong to some kind of social club and these clubs are even paid for by the government.
5.They also show an amazing amount of trust in each other and their government.You can see signs of this all over the country.You'll find vegetable stalls with no assistant.You take what you want and leave the money in a basket.Perhaps the bike is a good symbol for Denmark.The Danes can afford cars but they choose bikes-simple, economical,non-polluting machines that show no status and help keep people fit.
A.In a list ranking countries by the happiness of their citizens,it put tropical Fiji 50 places below freezing Iceland.
B.The street sweeper can hold his head up high as he proudly does his job.
C.Danish people aren't as suspicious as many other nations.
D.High taxes in Denmark widen the gap between different jobs.
E.Those 5.5 million people who call Denmark their home.
F.People have nice things in their houses,but they don't attach too much importance to shopping and spending.
G And there's another advantage to those high taxes.
